The types of the four new species described below have been deposited in the British Museum (Natural History).

Linnaeus (1746) described a black aphis which he found on Rumex sp. and called it Aphis rumicis. Fabricius (1794) described a black aphis “ Aphis rumicis,” found “in Rumice acuto” and mentioned pale antennae and tibiae. Risso (1826) recorded a species, Doralis rumicis, Leach, found in the Mediterranean region, but did not describe it. Koch (1857) recorded Aphis rumicis, L., from Rumex crispus, feeding chiefly on the stems and flower-stalks. This aphis is also frequently found on thistles and beans. The apterous female has black antennae, white only at the base of the long “ fourth joint.” The wing-pads and thorax of the alate nymphs are olive-green. Kaltenbach (1874) described black Aphids developing from eggs on dock, and having a second winged generation which settles on beans, thistles, Chenopodium sp., and other plants. He observed that the Aphid colonies are on the leaves and flower-stalks. Buckton (1879) gave an illustrated account of a black aphis, Aphis rumicis, L., which has a large number of food-plants including Rumex crispus, Carduus lanceolalus, and broad bean, with furze as its winter host. He noticed the presence of large white flecks on the “pupae.”

The larvae of the three common species of Ephestia, E. kühniella, Zell., E. elutella, Hb., and E. cautella, Wik. , are serious pests of stored food products, particularly cereals, dried fruits, nuts, and cacao. These species often occur together on stored foods, e.g., E. elutella and E. cautellaon dried fruit, or E. kühniella and E. elutellaon grain. Sometimes all three are found together on the same product. To know what species are present is of considerable importance, since they differ in the amount of damage they are likely to do, in their resistance to fumigants, in the frequency with which they are recorded as pests of Other products, etc. It has not hitherto been possible to identify the larvae with certainty except by breeding them out, which is unsatisfactory, both because of the time it takes and because it frequently happens that many of the larvae confined in breeding cages die of “wilt.”

A lateral view of the terminal segments is essential for the identification of a Culicine larva, but owing to the necessity of the larva to pierce the surface film of the water with the spiracular valves at the distal end of the respiratory siphon, it will retain a position with the dorsal surface uppermost in spite of all efforts to induce it to do otherwise. Even if placed in water so shallow that there is insufficient space between the bottom of the container and the surface of the water for the siphon to be held erect, the insect will incline its siphon but keep the rest of the abdomen dorsum uppermost, thus possibly presenting a lateral view of the siphon, and showing the pecten, but the comb and anal segments will still not be in a suitable position for a detailed study of the characters to be made

The genus Pagria, as will be seen from the following records, contains many injurious species feeding on various species of beans, etc. These have all been forwarded to the Imperial Institute of Entomology from time to time for identification :—

This Anopheline was first found in Syria in the larval stage on 30th August 1941. Up to the time of writing, 11th October 1941, adults and larvae have been taken on several occasions. Isolated larvae have been bred to the adult stage, and larval and pupal pelts preserved. Through the courtesy of Professor S. Adler and Dr. O. Theodor, of the Hebrew University at Jerusalem, I was able to consult the literature regarding the distribution of this species and to confirm its identification. The discovery of Anopheles marten in Syria is a new record.

The Sugar Industry of Mauritius is suffering heavily from damage by stem-borers, especially the “Spotted Borer,” Diatraea mauriciella, Wlk. It has been estimated (Moutia, 1934) that this species alone is responsible for an average reduction of 15 per cent, in the field, per arpent, and that the loss in sugar averages 2-3 per cent., i.e. 16 per cent, of the sugar in cane. This means a gross loss of about 1£ million rupees per annum for the whole island, or a net loss of approximately 125,000 rupees.

The history of this insect is so involved that perhaps the simplest method of attempting to find out how to arrive at its correct name will be to start with a chronological list of the references involved.